A Motion, which required an absolute majority of 151 votes, was rejected by the 158 deputies of Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party and the vote of one independent deputy, while the entire opposition, led by the main left-wing Syriza party, voted in favor.
The rejection of the motion of censure was not in question, because the New Democracy party holds an absolute majority in the single-chamber parliament.
On February 28, 2023, just before midnight, a passenger train collided head-on with a freight train near Larisa, an accident that killed 57 people, most of them young people.
The Mitsotakis Government was accused of disastrous management of the accident that shocked the entire country, despite the Prime Minister guaranteeing that “there was never an order to hide” political responsibilities.
In this accident, which he recently described as a “national trauma”, the “chronic failures of the State encountered human error”, he highlighted, guaranteeing that he wanted to tell the truth in the face of a “suspicious and angry society”.
Shortly before the vote, dozens of protesters gathered in front of parliament, notably displaying a large black banner that read: “We have forgotten nothing — We demand justice.”
During two days, and almost two entire nights, of fierce debates, accusations of negligence and criminal actions were leveled against the Government.
“We refuse to accept the persistence of corruption, cover-up and impunity”, stressed Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis.
“Ninety percent of society no longer believes in you and no longer trusts you, it was society that brought us here today”, assured the leader of the Syriza parliamentary group, Socratis Famellos, classifying this train accident as a crime.
The presentation of this motion of censure on Tuesday came after revelations by the newspaper To Vima alleging that recordings of conversations between the station manager and train drivers on the night of the accident were manipulated to support the thesis of human error.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the article misleading: “You are not ashamed to insinuate [que essas conversas foram editadas]?”
This head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train highlighted “the unacceptable failures in the safety of Greek railways”, according to the text of the motion of censure, and in particular the considerable delays suffered by Greece in modernizing its signaling systems.
“The criminal oligarchy (…) was joined by an equally criminal and methodical attempt to cover up the case”, continues the text, which also criticizes the former Minister of Transport, Kostas Karamanlis, who resigned the day after the disaster.
Speaking in parliament, the latter, also a deputy, guaranteed: “if anyone has real accusations against me with evidence, (…) bring them”.
For months, the collective of victims’ families has been demanding the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of Karamanlis and his left-wing predecessor, Christos Spirtzis.
More than 30 railway employees have been charged so far in this case, but no high-ranking figures.
The station manager in Larissa, the city closest to the accident, about 300 kilometers northwest of Athens, is in pre-trial detention for “negligent homicide”.
The collision provoked a wave of indignation among Greeks who took to the streets en masse.
Read Also: Greek government accused of “dissimulation” in the 2023 railway disaster
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Tags: Greek government overcomes motion censure due accident deaths
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